It is believed that as early as 1652, the year of Jan van Riebeeck’s landing at the Cape in South Africa, this race came into being. The progenitors were the early Dutch and other European men at the Cape who intermarried and interbred with indigenous Khoisan women. Some intermarrying with early Cape Malays, brought to the Cape by the Dutch from the East Indies, also took place.
Baster
The Rehoboth Basters are a branch of this new race. The term “Baster” is the preferred term and used with pride by the Baster Community. They adopted the language and culture of their forefathers which included the observance of Christian beliefs. Early missionaries recognized their strong Christian leanings and were sympathetic towards them, often being of assistance in their efforts to find peace and security. Thus it was that they gathered around mission stations south of the Orange River at Pella, De Tuine and Amandelboom.
In 1868, drought and discrimination forced the Basters to move north across the Orange River into Namibia where they eventually, in 1870, reached Rehoboth, south of Windhoek. At first they leased the Rehoboth area from a Nama leader, Willem Swartbooi, but after the Herero leader, Maharero, gave the Swartboois alternate land on which to settle, the Rehoboth area was given to the Basters as a grant by Maharero.
Subsequent interbreeding with German settlers and Schutztruppe introduced numerous German surnames, for example, Benz, Denk, Rittmann, etc. to the mainly Dutch (Afrikaans) surnames such as Beukes, Cloete, de Klerk, Esterhuizen, Maasdorp and van Wyk, etc. During the nineteenth century, many Scotsmen were involved in the Guano mining activities off the coast of Namibia and a number of them came inland to make Namibia their home. Some of them married Basters and hence the Scottish surnames like Alcock, Campbell, McNab. Other surnames of European origin are also encountered.
Many Basters work in Windhoek, commuting 180kms daily in passenger cars, vans and small buses. Artisans, such as bricklayers, carpenters, etc. have built many a Windhoek building, while numerous sales and administration positions are filled. Some Basters are involved in stock farming: some in cattle and most in sheep and goats.
The Basters are a patriotic people and very protective of their cultural heritage.
Should you experience incomplete PDF downloads, right click on the download link, select "Save Target As" and open the PDF from the location you saved it to.
Please note that the 'Acrobat Reader' version 4.0, or later is required to view the document. If you do not have the required version, it is available from the 'Adobe' Web site.
